IBOC DAB systems are designed to permit a smooth evolution from current analog Amplitude Modulation (AM) and Frequency Modulation (FM) radio to a fully digital In-Band On-Channel system. These systems can deliver digital audio and data services to mobile, portable, and fixed receivers from terrestrial transmitters in the existing Medium Frequency (MF) and Very High Frequency (VHF) radio bands. Broadcasters may continue to transmit analog AM and FM simultaneously with the new, higher-quality and more robust digital signals, allowing conversion from analog to digital radio while maintaining current frequency allocations.
Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) can provide digital-quality audio, superior to existing analog broadcasting formats. Both AM and FM In-Band On-Channel DAB signals can be transmitted in a hybrid format where the digitally modulated signal coexists with the currently broadcast analog signal, or in an all-digital format where the analog signal has been eliminated. IBOC DAB requires no new spectral allocations because each IBOC DAB signal is transmitted within the spectral mask of an existing AM or FM channel allocation. IBOC DAB promotes economy of spectrum while enabling broadcasters to supply digital quality audio to the present base of listeners.
One AM IBOC DAB system, set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,022, presents a method for simultaneously broadcasting analog and digital signals in a standard AM broadcasting channel. Using this approach, an amplitude-modulated radio frequency signal having a first frequency spectrum is broadcast. The amplitude-modulated radio frequency signal includes a first carrier modulated by an analog program signal. Simultaneously, a plurality of digitally modulated carrier signals are broadcast within a bandwidth that encompasses the first frequency spectrum. Each digitally modulated carrier signal is modulated by a portion of a digital program signal. A first group of the digitally modulated carrier signals lies within the first frequency spectrum and is modulated in quadrature with the first carrier signal. Second and third groups of the digitally-modulated carrier signals lie in upper and lower sidebands outside of the first frequency spectrum and are modulated both in-phase and in-quadrature with the first carrier signal. Multiple carriers employ orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) to bear the communicated information.
FM IBOC DAB systems have been the subject of several United States patents including U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,510,175; 6,108,810; 5,949,796; 5,465,396; 5,315,583; 5,278,844 and 5,278,826. In an FM compatible digital audio broadcasting system, digitally encoded audio information is transmitted simultaneously with the existing analog FM signal channel. The advantages of digital transmission for audio include better signal quality with less noise and wider dynamic range than with existing FM radio channels. Initially the hybrid format would be used allowing existing receivers to continue to receive the analog FM signal while allowing new IBOC DAB receivers to decode the digital signal. Sometime in the future, when IBOC DAB receivers are abundant, broadcasters may elect to transmit the all-digital format. Hybrid IBOC DAB can provide virtual CD-quality stereo digital audio (plus data) while simultaneously transmitting the existing FM signal. All-digital IBOC DAB can provide virtual CD-quality stereo audio along with a data channel.
One proposed FM IBOC DAB uses a signal that includes orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) sub-carriers in the region from about 129 kHz to 199 kHz away from the FM center frequency, both above and below the spectrum occupied by an analog modulated host FM carrier. An IBOC option, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,430,227, permits subcarriers starting as close as 100 kHz away from the center frequency. The bandwidth of the existing analog FM signal is significantly smaller than the bandwidth occupied by the OFDM subcarriers.
OFDM signals include a plurality of orthogonally spaced carriers all modulated at a common symbol rate. The frequency spacing for the pulse symbols (e.g., BPSK, QPSK, 8 PSK or QAM) is equal to the symbol rate. For IBOC transmission of FM DAB signals, redundant sets of OFDM subcarriers are placed in an upper sideband (USB) and a lower sideband (LSB) on either side of a coexisting analog FM carrier. The DAB subcarrier power is set to about −25 dB relative to the FM signal. The level and spectral occupancy of the DAB signal is set to limit interference to its FM host while providing adequate signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for the DAB sub-carriers. Certain ones of the subcarriers can be reserved as reference subcarriers to transmit control signals to the receivers.
One feature of digital transmission systems is the inherent ability to simultaneously transmit both digitized audio and data. Digital audio information is often compressed for transmission over a bandlimited channel. For example, it is possible to compress the digital source information from a stereo compact disk (CD) at approximately 1.5 Mbps down to 96 kbps while maintaining the virtual-CD sound quality for FM IBOC DAB. Further compression down to 48 kbps and below can still offer good stereo audio quality, which is useful for the AM DAB system or a low-latency backup and tuning channel for the FM DAB system. Various data services can be implemented using the composite DAB signal. For example, a plurality of data channels can be broadcast within the composite DAB signal.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/382,716, filed Aug. 24, 1999, and titled “Method And Apparatus For Transmission And Reception Of Compressed Audio Frames With Prioritized Messages For Digital Audio Broadcasting” (PCT Published Patent Application No. WO 0115358) discloses a method and apparatus for assembling modem frames for transmission in IBOC DAB systems, and is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention provides methods and apparatus for interleaving bits of digital information in an IBOC DAB system.